


eyes of the beholder

by LightningRooks



Series: here we stand, worlds apart [1]
Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Legacy (2010), Tron: Uprising
Genre: F/F, also incorporating my hc that flynn made like 2 programs on the grid and the rest were imported, but he missed one program, he like wiped their memory and data, this is about her and a discussion she has about freedom, yo if you're from tronblr there's like a very low chance you heard of an oc named forte
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 20:39:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6439627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningRooks/pseuds/LightningRooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>yeah she’s cute…….but is she conscious of the social inequalities and corruption in hierarchies of power that plague this world?</p><p>or, forté and a program who remembers</p>
            </blockquote>





	eyes of the beholder

**Author's Note:**

> hiya! so, if you don't know who forté is, that's totally fine and normal and all that. she's an original character- a music program who taught isos how to read and write music before the purge. after the purge she builds a club on top of a series of tunnels leading out of her city. she uses these tunnels to smuggle refugee programs in and out of the city.  
> anyway, that's all i think you need to know? so enjoy the fic!

“ i remember my user. “

it was unprompted, and it took forté by surprise. every program brought to the grid had been wiped clean of all memories and leftover data, although there were many programs who retained vague memories. nothing more than faint recollections of other systems, other programs - never had forté heard of a program being able to recall their original user. their original creator.

“ there are better people to tell this too than a music program, you know, “ forté said, giving the female program a chastising look. it wasn’t like having memories was explicitly forbidden, but then again, programs were derezzed over things not explicitly forbidden. if any of clu’s programs caught wind of this, well. forté wouldn’t want to be her.

this program was lucky then, that most programs were on their way out of the club, or too drunk to see straight. 

the other program hummed, swirling her drink around before speaking again. “ there’s just something about you that makes me want to trust you. “ 

forté had to laugh at this, remembering all the programs that had trusted her, had believed in her, and had, ultimately, been let down horribly. dead, disfigured, or repurposed. then again, she’d been a far better actress than anyone would ever give her credit for.

“ darling, i think that’s just the energy talking. i’m just a music program who runs a club. don’t mistake me for your best friend. “ 

she’d heard many confessions in her time as the owner of the music note, some from rebels, others from some of clu’s top ranking programs. maybe it was the alcohol, or something in the way she acted. forté was burdened with secrets from every corner of the grid - she didn’t need this program’s regrets as well. 

forté leaned on the countertop, thinking that she was one of the best programs to keep a secret. her eyes glanced at the staircase leading to her private quarters...and the tunnels below the music note. she looked back at the program, and really took in her appearance.

she was average height, with black hair kept in a tight bun. her skin was a warm almond, and her circuits were a lovely shade of pink. a pretty program either way, and by her build and attitude, forté could probably pinpoint what kind of program she was.

“ sometimes, when you play - especially on your keyboard, it sounds raw. i don’t think i’ve heard anyone else on the grid like you. there’s something more, i think. something more you’re trying to convey, “ the program stated, and her words shook forté to her core.

“ and what, my dear, am i trying to convey? “ forté asked, her smile just a little more forced, a little more scared. 

“ ...loss, i think. i mean, you don’t always sound like that, but when you do… there’s just something about you that i think i can understand. something i feel too. “ the program looked down at her drink, and then said quietly, “ she used to call me bo-287. do you know what she had me do? “

this program just seemed to love throwing forté for a few loops. first picking up on forté’s original compositions, then discussing her original user. forté shook her head, thoroughly intrigued. 

“ she had me sort through data, but… but it was different. it was pictures of her world. she gave me data about her world, she let me see it. users, she let me see her world through that data. i don’t know… i don’t know if she realized how much it meant to me- to see her world. sometimes, when i think about… well, you know who, i wonder if any of us meant as much to the users as they mean to us. “

it was after the program- bo, she assumed that this program went by- that forté realized how much she had let bleed through her calm facade. her back was ramrod straight, her eyes wide open, and her hand gripped the counter just a little more tightly. users, when had she last let herself be this affected by a program’s sob story?

she took a moment, carefully constructing her mask, before looking at bo again. users, she had seen their world! through pictures sent to her by her original user. how must that feel? what did their world even look like? 

“ i don’t understand. why are you telling me all of this? “ forté asked, trying her best to play the part of the cool, unaffected host. 

“ i don’t know - i’m so tired of keeping it in. it’s been over one thousand cycles since anyone saw _him_ , and i can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever be free. if i’ll ever see those things with my own eyes, “ bo said, finally draining the last bit of her drink. 

forté shook her head. “ clu won’t let their world stay the way you saw it in those pictures, though. he’ll try and perfect it, doing what he did to the grid to their world. and if- _if_ \- flynn ever came back, he’d never intended us to see his world anyway. it was always the isos. “

“ even if clu did try to perfect it, at least we’d be free! a prison is a prison, no matter how pretty it might be. like you said, flynn never wanted to free us, only the isos. at least clu cares about us! “

forté bit her tongue, not pointing out that clu had brainwashed a large portion of the programs on the grid, leveled an entire city for wanting to be free, and had transformed tron into a mindless shell, meant only to kill. 

it was a shame. forté had been hoping she could be friends with bo. while forté didn’t particularly have much faith in the users, not after everything, she did have a soft spot for freedom, and living without the constant fear of being derezzed. 

“ ...what did it look like? their world, i mean. “

“ it was beautiful. strange, otherworldly, but beautiful. they have seas, like ours, but theirs are bright blue, and the sun - at least, i think it was the sun- it looked so radiant. i’d give anything to see it in person. “

“ well perhaps, one day, we will all get a chance to see it. “

perhaps freedom was all in the eye of the beholder.

**Author's Note:**

> i hoped you liked it! i might write more, and you can always drop a prompt in my askbox at gvmmi.tumblr.com


End file.
